Mumbai, The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated it was not inclined to grant parole to jailed underworld don Abu Salem to visit his hometown in Uttar Pradesh after his lawyer expressed inability to pay “exorbitant” police escort charges.
A Division Bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shyam Chandak made it clear he can not bargain over escort charges amounting to more than ₹17 lakh.
Salem, serving a 25-year sentence in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, has sought parole to visit his native place in Azamgarh district to mourn the death of his brother Abu Hakim Ansari.
The court earlier suggested he can avail parole under police escort after paying necessary charges from his own pocket.
On Tuesday, his counsel, advocate Farhana Shah, told the court that escort charges were “exorbitant” and submitted that her client, who has been incarcerated for years, was in a “bad condition” financially.
Authorities have asked Salem, lodged in Nashik Road Central Jail in north Maharashtra, to pay more than ₹17 lakh for police escort party which will accompany him if he is granted parole by the court to travel to his hometown.
However, Shah told the court that the extradited underworld don won’t be able to pay more than ₹1 lakh.
On this, the Division Bench insisted he “cannot bargain” and will have to pay the mandatory charges if he wants to go to his native place under police escort.
The court then asked his lawyer to either withdraw the parole plea or it would dismiss it.
The matter was adjourned to Thursday after the lawyer sought time to take instructions from his client.
Salem, in his plea filed in December 2025, sought parole to visit his native place as his elder brother, Ansari, passed away in November. He had said his plea got delayed due to the court’s Christmas vacation.
According to Salem’s plea, he had applied for an emergency 14-day parole from jail authorities to attend the last rites and related rituals of his late brother on November 15.
However, the jail authorities rejected his plea by an order dated November 20, 2025.
Salem further pointed out that he has been in jail since his arrest in November 2005, and was only granted parole leaves of a few days following the death of his mother and later after the demise of his stepmother.
The underworld don, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.
A special TADA court had separately awarded life imprisonment to Salem in another case for murdering Mumbai-based builder Pradeep Jain in 1995.
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